


Reality

by Inell



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Drabble, Ficlet, Post-War, Romance, Second War with Voldemort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-16
Updated: 2008-12-16
Packaged: 2018-10-25 17:43:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10769241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inell/pseuds/Inell
Summary: Stay here.





	Reality

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** **Prompt:** Not all fairytales end w/ happily ever after  
>  **For:** [](http://luvscharlie.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://luvscharlie.livejournal.com/)**luvscharlie**

_Stay here._

There hadn't been a discussion. Just a simple order, a quick kiss, and then Remus was gone, off to fight while she stayed at home with their baby. If anything, _he_ should have stayed home with Teddy while she went to Hogwarts. Dora was the Auror, not him. Her own _mum_ was wanting to go fight, not seeming to care if she'd even survive. Losing a husband after so many years could make a person act crazy, she supposed, but she didn't want her mum off being killed.

Maybe if they'd talked about it, she wouldn't feel so obsessed. No, that was a lie. This was her job, even if she'd been unable to perform it properly since last summer, and she couldn't just sit around the house with their son while the war was possibly ending tonight. Remus needed her there, even if he was scared, and she knew she wouldn't be able to stay here doing nothing except listening to the wireless and hoping for word.

Teddy was only a few weeks old, so he was too young to understand what was happening. She could leave him with her mum, go find Remus, help kill a crazy wizard or five, and be back for breakfast. Of course, her mum didn't see it that way and wanted to argue. All this nonsense about having had a chance for her fairytale and living for twenty-five years with her dad and how it was her turn now, so she should stay.

Dora didn't want some silly fairytale, though. That wasn't her reality, even if it had once been her mum's. She was married to a werewolf, had a son who had somehow managed to inherit her rare gift or curse, depending on her mood when talking about it, and there was a war being fought by children up in Scotland.

How could her mum fight her on this? Yes, Teddy needed his mother, but he needed his father, too, and he needed this world to be peaceful and safe even more. She trusted her mum to watch him while they were gone, knew her mum would die before ever letting anything happen to him, and that was what would give her the peace of mind to go follow Remus and help. Teddy would be safe here, and, once they finished this bloody war, he'd be safe everywhere.

Finally, she just followed Remus' example. She kissed Teddy, gave her mum a hug, and Apparated to Hogsmeade before there could be any more protests. It wasn't until later, after she'd watched Remus fall before she could reach him, screaming so loud that her throat was sore, and found herself facing off against a woman who looked too much like her mum for her to really hurt her, that she realized this was the end.

She didn't cry out when she saw the rush of green light headed towards her. Instead, she thought of Teddy and her mum, and of Remus, and the way he'd smiled when he'd slipped the ring onto her finger not even a year ago. There would be no happily ever after for them, but that didn't mean their story was over. They would live on in Teddy.

End


End file.
